Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers swept away the hopes of the Chicago Cubs last night with a 3-1 win in Los Angeles and the Philadelphia Phillies, behind two Pat Burrell home runs and an excellent start by mid-season acquisition Joe Blanton, knocked off the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 on Sunday to advance in four games.  The two advance to set up a return to the World Series for either club in at least 15 years and a familiar NLCS match-up last occurring in 1983.

The Phillies advance to the NLCS for the first time since ‘93 when they got past the Atlanta Braves in six games.  The Dodgers make their first NLCS appearance since ‘88 when they beat the New York Mets in seven games.  Both teams advanced to the NLCS in their last appearances but this time that will not be the case.  The Phillies and Dodgers met in the NLCS in ‘77, ‘78 and ‘83 with the Dodgers taking the series in ‘77 and ‘78 and the Phillies getting past the Dodgers in ‘83.  This is the first time both clubs meet in the NLCS since it was changed to a Best-of-Seven format in ‘85.

Here is a preview of the key story lines to come from both teams and the tentative schedule for the NLCS with probable* pitching match-ups:

Game One: Thursday, October 9 — Los Angeles Dodgers (Derek Lowe) at Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels)
Game Two: Friday, October 10 — Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley) at Philadelphia Phillies (Brett Myers)
Game Three: Sunday, October 12 — Philadelphia Phillies (Jamie Moyer) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda)
Game Four: Monday, October 13 — Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw)
Game Five*: Wednesday, October 15 — Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Derek Lowe)
Game Six*: Friday, October 17 —  Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley) at Philadelphia Phillies (Brett Myers)
Game Seven*: Saturday, October 18 — Los Angeles Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda) at Philadelphia Phillies (Jamie Moyer)

* Games Five, Six and Seven if necessary.  Pitching match-ups based on previous series and all available information.  No official announcement has been made.

STORY LINES

• Dodgers’ third base coach Larry Bowa managed the Phillies from ’01 to ‘04 prior to current Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel took over the team.  Bowa also played on the only World Champion Phillies team in ‘80.
• Phillies’ first base coach Davey Lopes played for the Dodgers from ‘72 to ‘81 and was a member of the World Champion ‘81 Dodgers and the Dodgers team that knocked out the Phillies in ‘77 and ‘78.
• Charlie Manuel heaps big praise on Manny Ramirez who he coached and managed as the hitting coach and manager of the Cleveland Indians while Ramirez was there.
• Neither team won a game in the other team’s park this year.
• NLDS Game Two hero Shane Victorino was drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the ‘99 draft and then acquired from the Dodgers by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft in ‘04.
• Jayson Werth is also a former Dodger and had a disappointing season in Los Angeles before joining the Phillies.
• Rudy Seanez played with the Dodgers in ‘94, ‘95 and ‘07.
• The Phillies have seven players from California including Greg Dobbs (Los Angeles), Scott Eyre (Inglewood), Chase Utley (Pasadena) and Ryan Madson (Long Beach).  Cole Hamels (San Diego), Jimmy Rollins (Oakland) and Brad Lidge (Sacramento) are also from the state.
• The Dodgers have no former Phillies on their roster and only one player born in Pennsylvania — reliever Joe Beimel (St. Marys).
• The Dodgers own the lifetime regular series against the Phillies since 1901.  The Dodgers are 1048-817 (.562) against the Phillies.  In the postseason, the Dodgers are 7-4 against the Phillies.
• The Dodgers have 22 NL Pennants (nine in L.A.) and six World Championships (five in L.A.).  The Phillies have five Pennants and one World Championship.

This comes from a press release from the Brewers.

The Milwaukee Brewers today removed 2B Rickie Weeks from the National League Division Series 25-man roster with a sprained left knee. He has been replaced with SS Alcides Escobar.

He injured that knee running out a ground ball in yesterdays win against the Phillies. Now due to the rules, Weeks wont be eligible to play again until the next round (if the Brewers advance).